Cannon v. Holmes

On Appeal of Interlocutory Order

Justice Durham,

opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

¶1 In Panos v. Smith’s Food & Drug Centers, Inc., 913 P.2d 363 (Utah Ct.App.1996), the court of appeals held that when a judge issues an order dismissing a case for failure to prosecute, but fails to explicitly provide that the case is dismissed with prejudice or pursuant to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), the presumption is that the case is dismissed without prejudice.

¶2 Today we overrule Panos, concluding it was incorrectly decided. The plain language of rule 41(b) is clear that the presumption of prejudice…